St. Paul foster father pleads guilty to manslaughter in toddler's 2009 bathtub drowning

A St. Paul foster father pleaded guilty today to manslaughter in the death of a 19-month-old girl in his care.

Daniel Lee Wright, 51, spoke softly in the Ramsey County courtroom and appeared to admit his guilt with reluctance. He agreed, under the terms of what's known as an Alford plea, that the government likely had the evidence it needed for a jury to convict him.

In response to questions from attorneys, Wright agreed that Brianna Rose Jackson was small for her age.

He denied that she was unsteady in a sitting position because of developmental delays, and that she often toppled over when reaching for something. She had moved beyond that, he said.

Wright admitted that he was giving Brianna and an older child a bath together on the morning of July 1, 2009.

He and his wife, Barbara, provided foster care at their home at 1615 Darlene St. in St. Paul. Their license has since been revoked.

His attorney, Catherine Turner, said in court that the older child jumped out of the bathtub and went into another room.

"You left the bathroom and the bathtub to respond to (the older child), who you believed might have been in distress, is that correct?" Turner asked her client.

"Yes," Wright said.

"And you momentarily left (Brianna) in the tub unsupervised?" Turner asked. Wright said he had.

Prosecutor Karin McCarthy clarified that there was, in fact, no emergency with the other child.

"By the time I got done with (him), my stepson was rushing by," having noticed Brianna submerged in the tub, Wright said.

Advertisement

McCarthy asked if he agreed that witnesses — including Wright himself — put the time he was away from the baby at between 90 seconds to 3 minutes.

Wright said no.

But the state had evidence that the time Brianna was unsupervised was "about a minute, maybe longer?" his attorney asked.

"Yes," Wright said.

After Wright's stepson found Brianna lying limp in the tub, Barbara Wright performed CPR until paramedics got there. Brianna died the next day at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in St. Paul.

The girl was in foster care because of she was a victim of "shaken baby syndrome" at age 4 months, according to a St. Paul police report.

Under the plea deal arranged with prosecutors, Wright will be spared the four years in prison called for under state sentencing guidelines. Instead, he will receive between six months to a year in the workhouse and remain on probation for 10 years.

A second charge, that of child endangerment, will be dismissed at sentencing on May 24.